Question of Native Land

Alaskan Natives traditionally depended on the land for their livelihood. Whether it was access to hunting and fishing grounds for subsistence or rights to the land's resources, which have always been the source of wealth in Alaska, the health and prosperity of Alaskan Native communities are closely tied to their traditional lands. 

In the first decades after the U.S. purchased Alaska, so few Americans came to the territory that there was little conflict over land. But in the wake of the Gold Rush, that changed. In 1900, for the first time, Alaskan Natives were a minority of Alaska's population. As more Americans and American companies came to Alaska, conflict over land between Americans and Natives increased. The question of what land belonged to Alaskan Natives and what land was open for development by other Americans was a difficult and persistent issue. 

Federal laws, such as the First Organic Act in 1884, sought to protect Native lands. The 1884 Organic Act stated that Natives "shall not be disturbed in the possession of any lands actually occupied, used or claimed by them." However, the act left undefined exactly which lands were Native. As Alaska territorial leaders looked forward to Alaska statehood, they wondered about the rights of Alaska Natives to their land. Leaders in both Native and non-Native communities knew the sad history of Native American land rights in the Lower 48. 

At the state constitutional convention, territorial leaders had discussed resolving the problem by setting aside some land in the proposed state as Native land. But deciding what land this would be was a difficult question that seemed beyond the scope of the convention. In the end, the convention referred the problem back to the federal government to solve. When Congress passed the Statehood Act, it did included a "disclaimer clause" to protect Native lands, "Alaskans disclaim any right or title to land that may be subject to Native title". However, what land was actually owned by Alaskan Natives was again left undefined.

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